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Tip of the Pillar
Posted By: MT<brevard1986@hotmail.com>
Date: 4 June 2004, 12:14 PM
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As the darkness of space was pierced by a billion bright stars, the lone Halcyon-class warship hurtled passed.
The engines flared in a white hot glare, outshining the distant stars. Wings of wide triangle-shaped crafts flew escort to the large vessel. Their engines dull glow was like red angry eyes around the warship.
Deep in the ship's bowels, frenzied action occurred throughout as men and women ran passed each other to different areas. In its large engine room, squads of black clad warriors set up defensive positions.
Two technicians in the one of the cryo bays worked hastily to open a chamber. Inside, a green armoured soldier lay in deep sleep, like some ancient mythological hero waiting to dispatch his foes.
Deeper in the ship's vehicle bays a Scorpion main battle tank was being loaded up to a Pelican dropship, and a Warthog sped pass underneath. The vehicle followed a faded path into a low opening.
A dozen men in brown ballistic armour and helmets stood in rigid attention to a Sergeant in front of them. Near the front of the ship, through the domed view port, the bridge was calm in comparison. Its Captain stood in rapt attention, taking in what the A.I. Cortana was saying, and chewing on his antique pipe.
Further ahead, outside of the ship were the giant words 'Pillar of Autumn' painted in white. And there, pass the honeycombed titanium hull was Lieutenant Vensim hunkered down behind an extended bulkhead.
Vensim was at the tip of the Pillar.
He wasn't precisely at the very bow of the ship. Actually, more to port and the low wide corridor in front stretched thirty paces ahead to the tip. But for intents and purposes, Lieutenant Vensim and the twenty men and women behind him were at the very tip of the Pillar.
And he hated it.
He knew the exact reason why he was assigned to protect this passage way which connected to a main corridor leading to the bridge.
He knew that it was Captain Stevens who volunteered him for this job. He knew that the Captain hardly listened to Stevens and simply nodded his approval. He knew that Stevens was counting on exactly that. He also knew Stevens has always hated him and was glad to get rid of him
Fuck Stevens.
Vensim was a coward. That little voice in his head always reminded him of that small fact everyday of his damned life. He had always been a coward and he couldn't see a time in the future when that particular aspect of his character would stop. Or so the voice told him.
He only saw a handful of combat engagements, and in all those occasion made his Sergeant or the Corporal lead the Marines into action. Vensim will then attempt to find a good spot to hunker down in and hope that no trouble went his way.
Captain Stevens only discovered this two days ago when he overheard some of the Privates joking about Vensim's cowardice. Since then, Vensim saw most of those under his command transferred to directly under the Captain or Second Lieutenant Charles.
That suited him just fine. After all, he wasn't that great a commander anyway. He was just glad that Stevens didn't have much time to kick him out of the company or bust him out of the officer ranks all the way down to enlisted ranks. But being a Private didn't sound too bad at that exact period in time.
Vensim turned to look at the twenty Marines with him. His features darkened.
He might have been a coward but he didn't like the thought of people dying under his command. That is why he rarely took responsibility, and delegated most combat command to the Sergeant or Corporal. Hell, he gave a fair share of authority to the Lance Corporal during his time in the Marine Corp.
But, he was the one Stevens needed to get back with. These men and women did nothing wrong. To stay on the Autumn was pretty much a death sentence, but also a repel boarding action?
Suddenly, soft thuds rang through the ship's hull.
It started.
Vensim winced as another torrent of blue plasma bolt tore across his view. The smell of burnt ozone made him wrinkle his nose.
The Covenant boarding party went through the port side almost a dozen meters ahead of the Marines. They were glad that the breach was quickly sealed as the entrance chamber of the Covenant craft fitted almost perfectly to the gap.
They were only happy for a short while.
A handful of Orange and Red armoured Grunts rushed out. Quickly, the Marines picked their targets and starter to cut into the side of the group. Three Grunts fell in the initial barrage, and the rest dived behind the protection of the corridor braces. A blue blur flashed into view and unleashed a storm of plasma at the Marines. The Marines ducked for cover.
Vensim was instantly behind his own brace just at the rear of the Marines.
They had a fall back point a few meters away from the first line.
The blue armoured Elite roared as a hail of armour piercing bullets tore into his energy shielding. It ducked into cover and the sparks of metal on metal followed it. Vensim was about to order a cease fire when a pair of Grunts side stepped into view and fired at the Marines.
The green plasma bolts flashed passed the Marines, just over their heads, causing many of the Marines to get down.
One Marine saw part of her right arm torn away by stray plasma bolt. She screamed in agony as she dived for cover. The squad medic was doing his best to reach her.
The medic stumbled and attempted to right himself. The Grunts saw this and opened fired.
As the medic fell forward, lifeless, Vensim kept thinking to himself the number five.
They lost five so far.
He lost five.
There was a shout from the Corporal causing Vensim to focus on the task at hand. The Lieutenant's eyes widened as he watched the Marines starting to pull back to the second line. Even as the Marines rushed passed him, Vensim couldn't get his body to move. Green plasma bolts flashed past his view, and several Marines were killed. A shattered line of sprawled bodies lay across his view like a path to the safety of the second line.
Before Vensim knew what happened, he found himself still hunched behind the self same brace with his Marines a few meters away.
He quickly sat down, hoping that he was quiet and crunched himself as small as possible in that corner of the brace. His body tensed and sweated as the heavy thuds of alien metal clanked against the floor towards him. Vensim closed his eyes, and felt tears seeping out.
The continuous sound of plasma sizzle and rapid successive cracks of assault rifle bursts droned on his ear drones. They did not seem as loud as his own breathing, Vensim thought. He willed his heavy panting to stop, but that only seemed to make things worse.
It didn't matter. Nobody would have heard him over the cursing and roaring, let alone the sound of plasma and bullets.
He could see flashes of the Marines getting up from their cover to shoot at the Covenant. They ignored him for the most part, but some had flashes of surprise in their eyes occasionally when they saw him still alive. It seemed rather funny that they didn't display any anger or pity. Just surprise.
Well, that was to be expected wasn't it? Vensim wasn't surprised when the Marines didn't even look like they were considering going out there to get him, so why should they waste emotions like anger or pity on him? No, all is as it should be.
But it wasn't.
Vensim felt a surge of anger at the Marines. The anger even penetrated through his immense feeling of fear. Why weren't they trying to get to him? Why weren't they trying to help him? Was he so worthless to them he wouldn't be any use? Did they even think of him as human anymore or just some animal you're not suppose to shoot at? Damn them! Vensim looked down and was glad to see he still had his pistol and two grenades.
That's all it takes. One grenade. He could take them out. He could prove his worth.
He pulled out his pistol and started to take out the M9 fragmentation grenade.
Vensim paused. Maybe it will take more than one.
He holstered his pistol and took out the second grenade. Holding one grenade in each hand he slowly pushed back against the corner and slid himself up. It seemed like a long time when he finally stood erect, trying to push himself into the hull. The firing didn't cease but some of the Marines would glance at him quizzically.
His heart thumped against his chest and he felt the surge of adrenaline shake his body. He breathed harder and tried to ignore the sweat dripping down his eyebrows. A sudden shriek caused him to whimper in fear and close his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them again, he saw that a Marine was missing.
The exchange of fire did not cease.
Then he heard an explosion and suspected that it was another party. As if to confirm his suspicions the wall of plasma the followed shortly caused all the Marines to keep their heads down.
Now!
Vensim put his fingers into the rings and started to pull when suddenly, a blue Elite forearm came into view mere inches away from his head. He yelped in fear and dropped one of the grenades.
The creatures arm throbbed as the Plasma Rifle's recoil went through it. Vensim could see the armour plating on the Elite's arm shake and felt the intense heat of plasma so close to his face.
But he didn't care.
In that moment, time stopped. No, that wasn't right. Time didn't stop but slowed to a crawl. The grenades floated down to the metallic floor, and Vensim felt his entire being follow their descent. Finally, they landed with a loud metallic clank!.
Shit.
All of the sudden, the Elite arm drew back and was quickly followed by a surprised alien roar from the other side of the bulk head.
Vensim felt his legs fall away from him, and felt an odd sensation on his posterior. He had fallen. Collapsed really, but the pain seemed so far off. He was simply stricken in fear. Vensim stared at the two grenades which rolled some inches away into the open. Anytime now, he thought. Anytime now.
The Elite whirled around the bulkhead that instant. Momentarily confused at seeing nothing before looking down at the cowardly human, he instantly grasped the situation. The two human devices at its feat would have killed him and his brethren if the clumsy human did not drop them. Enraged, the Elite bellowed a roar of anger and whipped his Plasma Rifle to point at Vensim's head.
Vensim did not see the blue monster stand over him. He did not see the yellow flesh of its mouth as its four mandibles spread open in the roar. He did not see the Plasma Rifle point at him. All he saw was the darkness of his eyelids and every painful memory he harboured. He never actually contemplated his own death before. He was too much of a coward to do so he supposed, but even now, he could not bring himself to look at his end.
Suddenly, he heard the Elite roar in pain and a handful of plasma bolts slash past his head. They burned into the metallic hull beside him, and liquid metal slowly dribbled down the wall. The bolts were close enough to burn the right side of his face, leaving a patch of broken skin with blood slowly oozing out.
Vensim did not care. He somehow felt nothing physical. The agonising pain on his face did not register on his conscious mind. What did have his entire concentration was the fact that a Marine now ducked and reloaded his spent weapon. Vensim did not see the face of the Marine, but he knew who it was: Private Francis. If Vensim sought confirmation, he found it when the soldier flashed a part of his shoulder area. The words, "PFC T. Francis" were stencilled into the rough cloth.
The Private sure was first class, alright.
Vensim suddenly found himself reaching out for the two grenades in front of him. The Elite close to them, and would block any few of the floor area he reached out too. The pool of purple blood did not spread far enough to reach the grenades, but it was getting closer.
He clasped the grenades close to his chest and took a breath in.
He found that he had a cause to fight. He owed a Marine his life.
Yes. He could do it now.
His fingers found the rings on the grenades. Vensim felt the sweat trickle down them and his nose. His breathing turned ragged and his eyes became blurry. The adrenaline from before seemed to become more intense, and Vensim felt his entire body shake furiously. All he had to do was to whip around the bulkhead and lob the frags into the middle of the Covenants. That's all...
He couldn't do it.
With a half sob, Vensim dropped both grenades onto his stomach. He put his head against the cold wall behind him. The pain in his face registered that moment and Vensim gritted his teeth together to stop the moan.
Plasma and bullets flew back and fourth in front of him, and he could only watch.
Coward.
Fuck you.
Fuck it.
Coward.
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